And then we should also pay attention to
day number 43, the name of which was
moved 2 places ahead, leaving another
hole in the Makoi sequence. But
oddly the name was not changed.
1
Ko Apina Iti |
27 |
29
Ko Te Rano A Raraku |
(30) |
29 |
30 |
31 Oparingi |
11 |
(43) |
1 |
45 Vai ngaere |
8 |
54
Vai Rapa |
(55) |
4 |
60
Apina Nui |
12 |
11 |
5 |
24 |
ki te henua - te maro |
rutua ... |
12 |
Rutu. 1. To read,
to recite, to pronounce
words solemnly; he-rutu i
te kohau motu, to read
the rongorongo tablets;
hare rutu rogorogo mo
hakama'a ki te ga poki ite
kai, i te rogorogo,
rongorongo school, house in
which children were taught
reading and writing the
rongorongo signs. 2. To pelt
with stones. 3. To gather in
great numbers (of people).
Vanaga. Sound.
Rutu-rongorongo = the
sound of recitation.
Barthel. T. Beat. Henry. To
recite; tae rutu,
irreverence. Churchill.
Pau.: rutu, a drum.
Mgv.: rutu, to beat,
to cause to resound. Ta.:
rutu, a drum, to drum.
Mq.: utu, to drum.
Sa.: lutu, to shake a
rattle. Churchill.
...
The tun glyph was
identified as a wooden drum
by Brinton (1895, p. 92),
and Marshal H. Saville
immediately accepted it.
Figure 49 [excerpt above]
shows the Aztec drum
representation relied on by
Brinton to demonstrate his
point. It was not then known
that an ancestral Mayan word
for drum was *tun:
Yucatec tunkul
'divine drum' (?); Quiche
tun 'hollow log drum';
Chorti tun 'hollow
log drum' (Wisdom 1940, pp.
175-176) ...
13. |
13. |
13. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
1. |
5
Imix |
9
Kumk'u |
(Aug. 14, 3114
B.C.) |
13. |
13. |
13. |
0. |
0. |
1. |
0. |
11 Ahaw |
3
Pop |
(Sept. 2, 3114
B.C.) |
13. |
13. |
13. |
0. |
1. |
0. |
0. |
13 Ahaw |
3
Kumk'u |
(Aug.7, 3113
B.C.) |
13. |
13. |
13. |
1. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
2
Ahaw |
8
Mak |
(May 1, 3094
B.C.) |
13. |
13. |
1. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
3
Ahaw |
13 Ch'en |
(Nov. 15, 2720
B.C.) |
13. |
13. |
13. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
4
Ahaw |
3
K'ank'in |
(Dec. 23, A.D.
2012) |
13. |
1. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
10 Ahaw |
13 Yaxk'in |
(Oct. 15, A.D.
4772) |
1. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
0. |
7
Ahaw |
3
Zotz' |
(Nov. 22, A.D.
154587) |
Each of
the years, called a tun
by the Maya, in these dates
is composed of 360 days. If
we return to the Creation
date with its twenty cycles
set at thirteen, we see that
it will take
41,943,040,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000 tuns for the
highest cycle to change from
thirteen to one
... |
|
|
Cb1-4 (396) |
Cb1-5 |
CLOSE TO THE SUN: |
Oct 20 (293)
14h (213.1)
π
Hydrae,
χ
Centauri (213.0),
MENKENT (Shoulder of the
Centaur) = θ Centauri
(213.1) |
21
Neck-2 (Dragon)
ASELLUS TERTIUS (3rd Ass
Colt) = κ Bootis, κ
Virginis, 14 Bootis
(214.8) |
'Sept 23 (266) |
24 |
CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON: |
April 20
Arku-sha-rishu-ku-2 (Back of
the Head of Ku)
2h (30.4)
κ
Arietis (30.3),
HAMAL (Sheep)
=
α
Arietis
(30.5)
ALKES (α
Crateris)
*354.0 = *30.4 - *41.4 |
21 (111)
η Arietis (31.9) |
'March 24 |
25 (84
= JULIAN EQUINOX) |
DAY 30 |
31 |
30 Ko Oparingi |
31 Oparingi |
30 ko oparingi a
a uuri |
31 oparingi a uuri |
Ta.:
turiopa, weakness of the
knees.
Rigi.
A very
detailed myth comes from the
island of Nauru. In
the beginning there was
nothing but the sea, and
above soared the Old-Spider.
One day the Old-Spider found
a giant clam, took it up,
and tried to find if this
object had any opening, but
could find none. She tapped
on it, and as it sounded
hollow, she decided it was
empty. By repeating a charm,
she opened the two shells
and slipped inside. She
could see nothing, because
the sun and the moon did not
then exist; and then, she
could not stand up because
there was not enough room in
the shellfish. Constantly
hunting about she at last
found a snail. To endow it
with power she placed it
under her arm, lay down and
slept for three days. Then
she let it free, and still
hunting about she found
another snail bigger than
the first one, and treated
it in the same way. Then she
said to the first snail:
'Can you open this room a
little, so that we can sit
down?' The snail said it
could, and opened the shell
a little. Old-Spider then
took the snail, placed it in
the west of the shell, and
made it into the moon. Then
there was a little light,
which allowed Old-Spider to
see a big worm.
At her request he opened the
shell a little wider, and
from the body of the worm
flowed a salted sweat which
collected in the lower
half-shell and became the
sea. Then he raised the
upper half-shell very high,
and it became the sky.
Rigi, the worm,
exhausted by this great
effort, then died.
Old-Spider then made the sun
from the second snail, and
placed it beside the lower
half-shell, which became the
earth. Larousse.
Ta.:
iki,
iini,
to pour, to spill. Sa.:
ligi,
liligi,
id. Ma.:
ringi,
riringi,
id. Ta.:
ninii,
id. Pau.:
riringi,
id. Churchill.
Hau Maka |
Hua Tava |
Ira |
Raparenga |
Ngukuu |
Ringiringi |
Nonoma |
Uure |
Makoi |
Sun |
Moon |
Mars |
Mercury |
Jupiter |
Venus |
Saturn |
|
manu moe ra |
ki to mata |
e nuku mata |
hoea |
6 |
Hoe 1.
Paddle. Mgv.: hoe, ohe,
id. Mq., Ta.: hoe, id. 2.
To wheeze with fatigue (oeoe
2). Arero oeoe, to
stammer, to stutter; Mgv. oe,
to make a whistling sound in
breathing; ohe, a cry
from a person out of breath.
Mq.: oe, to wheeze with
fatigue. 3. Blade, knife; hoe
hakaiu, clasp-knife,
jack-knife; hoe hakanemu,
clasp-knife; hoe pikopiko,
pruning knife. 4. Ta.: oheohe,
a plant. Ma.: kohekohe,
id. Churchill. T. Paddle. E
hoe te heiva = 'and to
paddle (was their) pleasure'.
Henry. Hoea, instrument
for tattooing. Barthel. |
|
|
|
|
Cb1-18 (→ 4 * 29½) |
Cb1-19 |
Cb1-20 |
Cb1-21 (413 = 14 * 29½) |
CLOSE TO THE SUN: |
Nov 3 (→ π)
ω Bootis (227.2),
NEKKAR (Herdsman) = β Bootis
(227.3), σ Librae (227.5), π²
Oct. (227.7),
NADLAT
(Mean Little Ones) = ψ Bootis
(227.8), π Lupi (227.9) |
4
(308)
15h (228.3)
ZUBEN HAKRABIM = ν Librae
(228.3), λ Lupi (228.9) |
5
ω
Oct. (229.3),
ι
Librae (229.6),
κ
Lupi (229.7),
ζ
Lupi (229.8) |
6
Al Zubānā-14b (Claws)
χ
Bootis (230.3),
PRINCEPS =
δ
Bootis
(230.6),
ZUBEN ELSCHEMALI
(Northern Claw) =
β
Librae
(230.8) |
'Oct 7 (280) |
8 |
9 |
10 |
CLOSE TO THE FULL MOON: |
May 4 (124)
MENKAR
(The Nose) =
α
Ceti
(44.7) |
5 (5 * 5 * 5)
3h (45.7)
GORGONEA TERTIA = ρ Persei
(45.1),
ALGOL
(The Demon) =
β
Persei
(45.9) |
6
ι
Persei (46.1),
MISAM (Next to the Pleiades) = κ
Persei
(46.2),
GORGONEA QUARTA = ω Persei
(46.7),
BOTEIN (Pair of Bellies) = δ
Arietis
(46.9) |
7
ζ Arietis (47.7) |
... In the sky, Perseus lies
next to his beloved Andromeda.
Nearby are her parents Cepheus
and Cassiopeia, as well as the
monster, Cetus, to which she was
sacrificed. Pegasus, the winged
horse, completes the tableau.
Perseus himself is shown holding
the Gorgon’s head. The star that
Ptolemy called ‘the bright one
in the Gorgon head’ is Beta
Persei, named Algol from the
Arabic
ra’s al-ghul
meaning the demon’s head. (As an
aside,
al-ghul is
also the origin of our word
alcohol - quite literally ‘the
demon drink’.) Algol is the type
of star known as an eclipsing
binary, consisting of two close
stars that orbit each other, in
this case every 2.9 days ... |
'April 7 |
8 |
9 (99) |
10 (100) |
DAY 44 |
45 |
46 |
47 |
44 Tai E Teho
|
45 Vai Ngaere |
46 Hue E Renga |
47 Vai E Hare |
44
e tai e teho e ka tao
taau ngu e po e kiko e ka tutu
tou oone. |
45 vai ngaere
a puku hehaheha. |
46 e hue e
renga havini e ka rangi atu koe
kia nua
kia motu roa
ka vere mai taau taueve miritonu |
47 e vai e
hare hakangaengae i te tahu
hanga rikiriki. |
Gae. Gaegae,
short of breath, out of breath,
breathless. PS Mgv.: aeaea,
short of breath, to breathe with
difficulty, to feel suffocated;
gaegae, to have a feeble
voice. Mq.: naenae,
kaekae, short of breath,
unable to breathe, suffocated.
Ta.: áeáe, short and
painful breathing, as one at the
point of death. Sa.: gae,
to breathe hard, to pant, to be
out of breath. Uvea: gaegae,
out of breath. Fu.: gaigaisā.
id. Gaehe, to
boil. Gaei, to shake, to
contract, to move (gaeiei,
gaiei, geigei,
garei, gerei); ua
gaiei, pulsation;
hakagaie, to shake, to wave,
to waddle, to twist the body
about; ahi hakagaie, a
night signal; hakagerei,
to shake. Churchill.
"... Again the
additional text contains
commands: 'Call out to the
mother (over there), to Motu
Roa! Tear out the closure of
your earth-oven made from
seaweeds!' ..." (The Eighth
Land, p.87).
|
te ua |
koia ra |
kua tuku ki to
mata - ki tona
tukuga |
e kiore - henua -
pa rei |
Ko. 1.
Article (ko te); preposition:
with (see grammar); prefix of
personal pronouns: koau, I;
kokoe, you (singular); koîa, he, she, it;
kokorua,
you (plural); ko tagi, koîa, he with his weeping. 2. Article
which precedes proper nouns, often
also used with place names: Ko
Tori, Ko Hotu Matu'a, Ko Pú. Koîa, exact:
tita'a koîa, exact demarcation. Seems to be the
personal pronoun koîa -
applied in the meaning of: thus it
is, here it is precisely. Vanaga. 1.
Negative; e ko, not, except;
e ko ora, incurable; ina
ko, not; ina ko tikea,
unseen; ina e ko, not; ina
e ko mou, incessant. 2. A
particle used before nouns and
pronouns; ko vau, I; ko te,
this; ko mea tera, this; ati ko peka, to avenge,
ko
mua, first, at first, formerly.
3. There, yonder. P Mgv.: ko,
over there, yonder. Ta.: ó,
there, here. Churchill.
Ta.:
ra,
a day.
Pa.
1. Mgv.: pa, an
inclosure, a fenced place. Ta.:
pa, inclosure, fortification.
Mq.: pa, inclosure. Sa.:
pa, a wall. Ma.: pa, a
fort. 2. Mgv.: pa, to touch.
Sa.: pa'i, id. Ma.: pa,
id. 3. Mgv.: pa, to prattle.
Ta.: hakapapa, to recount. 4.
Mq.: pa, a hook in bonito
fishing. Sa.: pa, a
pearlshell fishhook. Ma.: pa,
a fishhook. Pau.: hakapa, to
feel, to touch. Mgv.: akapa,
to feel, to touch, to handle
cautiously.
... Ana Onoono is a cave well-suited
as an overnight shelter; Pu
Ngotangota is a coastal formation
where the seawater is allowed to
flow in and out. The three
additions, 'house', 'cave', and
'hole', always describe an enclosed
area ... This
statement of Barthel ought to be
extended to include also pa
itself.
... In later research it was
postulated that the [Phoenician]
alphabet is actually two complete
lists, the first dealing with land
agriculture and activity, and the
second dealing with water, sea and
fishing.
The
first half beginning with Alef
- an ox, and ending with Lamed
- a whip. The second list begins
with Mem - water, and
continues with Nun - fish,
Samek - fish bones, Ayin
- a water spring, Peh - the
mouth of a well, Tsadi - to
fish, Kof, Resh and
Shin are the hook hole, hook
head and hook teeth, known to exist
from prehistoric times, and the
Tav is the mark used to count
the fish caught ... |
|
|
|
|
Cb2-4 (420 = 7 * 60) |
Cb2-5 (29) |
Cb2-6 |
Cb2-7 |
... The Maya word
cab means earth,
world, tierra,
the place below,
opposed to caan,
the sky. The
overwhelming
evidence on the
glyph and its
associations in the
pictures and texts
is for this same
meaning, Earth. A
most interesting
glyph in this
connection is one
found in Maudslay's
Tikal, plate 74,
glyph 13, our form
17.33.
The text on the
stela shows that
this glyph indicates
the passage of one
day, from 6 Eb, 0
Pop to 7 Eb,
1 Pop; the sun
or kin,
preceded by the
numeral 1, is seen
entering between the
caban-sign
and what we shall
later come to
identify as the
sky-glyph ...
In the beginning
there were only Sky
and Earth 'in close
embrace', and when
Air entered in
between them it was
a fundamental change
from 2 to 3.
... The ancient
Chinese said: One
generates Two, Two
generates Three, and
Three generates
Everything.
And reasonably there
should be a Sign of
'3' where this event
occurred. At left in
glyph 17.33 a
triplet of 'stones'
arranged vertically
could have
visualized the
season of Sky
(top), the season of
Air (central) and
the season of Earth
(bottom). But since
top and bottom are
quite similar the
meaning could be the
northern sky
respectively the
southern sky with
the equatorial
(inhabitable) belt
in between ... |
CLOSE TO THE SUN: |
Nov 13
κ
Librae (237.2),
ι
Serpentis (237.4),
ψ²
Lupi,
ρ
Oct.
(237.5), γ Cor.
Borealis, η Librae
(237.7),
COR
SERPENTIS = α
Serpentis
(237.9)
*196.0 = *237.4 -
*41.4 |
14
π
Cor. Borealis,
UNUK ELHAIA (Necks
of the Serpents) = λ
Serpentis
(238.1),
CHOW = β Serpentis
(238.6) |
15
κ
Serpentis (239.3),
δ
Cor. Borealis,
TIĀNRŪ = μ Serpentis
(239.5),
χ
Lupi, (239.6),
ω
Serpentis (239.7),
BA (= Pa) = ε
Serpentis,
χ
Herculis (239.8).
κ
Cor.
Borealis, ρ
Serpentis (239.9) |
16 (320)
λ
Librae (240.0),
β
Tr. Austr. (240.3),
κ
Tr. Austr. (240.4),
ρ
Scorpii (240.8)
*199.0 = *240.4 -
*41.4 |
'Oct 17 (290) |
18 |
19 (292 = 4 * 73) |
20 |
"Oct 3 |
4 (277) |
5 |
6 |
SEPT 10 |
11 |
12 (255 = 3 * 85) |
13 |
DAY 237 |
238 |
239 |
240 |
CLOSE TO THE FULL
MOON: |
May 14
δ Persei (54.7) |
15 (500 = 365 + 135)
Al Thurayya-27 (Many
Little Ones) /
Krittikā-3 (Nurses
of Kārttikeya) /
TAU-ONO (Six Stones)
ATIKS = ο Persei,
RANA (Frog) = δ
Eridani
(55.1),
CELAENO (16 Tauri),
ELECTRA (17),
TAYGETA (19),
ν
Persei (55.3),
MAIA (20), ASTEROPE
(21), MEROPE (23)
(55.6) |
16 (136)
Hairy Head-18
(Cockerel) /
Temennu-3
(Foundation Stone)
ALCYONE
(56.1),
PLEIONE (28 Tauri),
ATLAS (27 Tauri)
(56.3) |
17
MENKHIB (Next to the
Pleiades = ζ Persei
(57.6)
PORRIMA (γ Virginis) |
'April 17 (80 + 27) |
18 (108 = 135 - 27) |
19 |
20 |
BISSEXTUM (54 - 55) |
56 (8 WEEKS) |
57 (= 137 - 64 - 16) |
... The leap day was
introduced as part
of the Julian
reform. The day
following the
Terminalia (February
23) was doubled,
forming the 'bis
sextum -
literally 'double
sixth', since
February 24 was 'the
sixth day before the
Kalends of March'
using Roman
inclusive counting
(March 1 was the
'first day').
Although exceptions
exist, the first day
of the bis sextum
(February 24) was
usually regarded as
the intercalated or
'bissextile' day
since the third
century. February 29
came to be regarded
as the leap day when
the Roman system of
numbering days was
replaced by
sequential numbering
in the late Middle
Ages ... |
"April 3
|
4 |
5 |
6 (96) |
MARCH 11 |
12 (135 - 64 = 71) |
13 |
14 (→ π) |
DAY 54 |
55 |
56 |
57 |
54 Vai Rapa |
- |
56 (Sic!) Vai Rutu
Manu |
57 Hanga Piko |
54
vai rapa a
hakaremereme |
56 te vai rutu manu
a koro rupa.e haho e
hivi e
e
runga e
te puku ohu kahi
e. |
57
hanga piko a
hare rutu manu a
ana onoono
a
Pu ngotangota. |
According to Barthel
the 'shimmering
water' (vai rapa)
was located north of
Ana Kai Tangata
(Cave for Eating
Man) with Hanga
Piko (Curved
Bay) a bit further
north. In between
was Te Vai Rutu
Manu:
... The 'watering
place' where the
bird beats (the
rhythm)' - wordplay,
'where a certain
chant is being
recited' - is
located near Hanga
Piko. A recitation
provides the
following
information for the
additional name: 'In
Koro Rupa is the
house where one is
made to laugh; in
Kere Mea is the
house where one is
made fun of'
(Barthel 1960:851;
Campbell 1971:400).
There the rule of
the new birdman was
celebrated (compare
koro
'feast'). In RAP.,
koro rupa
seems to have the
same meaning as in
TUA. kororupo,
which describes a
paradise. In the
cosmology of the
TUA., the name also
referred to the
entrance to the
underworld. Hivi
(maybe the same as
hi ivi 'to
fish with a hook
made from bone';
compare the
narrative ME:363) is
'outside', and 'the
elevation from where
(the catch of) the
tunafish is
announced' is
'above'. This is a
reference to a large
boulder beside the
place where the
canoes docked in
Hanga Piko. There
the people waited
for the canoes to
return from the
fishing grounds." (The
Eighth Land, pp.
89-90.)
Kahi. Tuna;
two sorts: kahi
aveave, kahi
matamata.
Vanaga. Mgv.:
kahi, to run, to
flow. Mq.: kahi,
id. Churchill.
Rangitokona,
prop up the heaven!
// Rangitokona,
prop up the morning!
// The pillar stands
in the empty space.
The thought [memea]
stands in the
earth-world - //
Thought stands also
in the sky. The
kahi stands in
the earth-world - //
Kahi stands
also in the sky. The
pillar stands, the
pillar - // It ever
stands, the pillar
of the sky.
(Morriori creation
myth according to
Legends of the South
Seas.)
Puku. 1.
To feel an urge to
defecate or to
urinate, etc.:
ku-puku-á te mimi:
to need to
urinate. 2. Rock,
boulder: puku
ma'ea; puku
oone, hillock,
earth mound. 3.
Puku tagata,
pubis. Puku-ine,
to get stuck in the
oesophagus (of
food). Pukupuku,
joints, bones of a
joint; pukupuku
rima, wrist
bones; pukupuku
va'e, ankle.
Pukuraga,
followers,
disciples, students.
Puku rekoreko
is the juicy part
between two knots (puku).
Vanaga. 1. Puku
haga oao, east,
east wind. 2. Pubes.
T Mgv.: puku,
clitoris; pukuhou,
the age of puberty;
pukutea, a
man between 30 and
45. 3. Unripe;
puku no, unripe;
pukupuku,
green, immature.
Mgv. puku, to
be unripe. Mq.:
puku, a fruit
which has not yet
reached its
maturity. 4. To
gorge; mahaga
puku, to take
the bait greedily.
PS Sa.: pu'u,
to take the whole at
one mouthful, to put
into the mouth
whole. Fu.:
pukupuku, to
rinse the mouth, to
gargle. Niuē:
puku,
to take into the
mouth.
Pukuhina,
(puku
4), to choke on a
fishbone. Pau.:
pukua,
to choke with a
fishbone. Mgv.:
pukua,
to be suffocated by
anything that sticks
in the throat. Mq.:
pukua,
bad deglutition.
Ta.:
puunena,
puufeto,
to choke, to gag.
Ha.: puua,
to be choked, to
have something
sticking in the
throat.
Pukupuku;
1. Elbow. G. 2.
Wrinkled, knotty,
wen, scrofula;
gao
pukupuku,
scrofula. T Pau.:
puku,
a swelling;
pukupuku,
a wrinkle, knotty,
rough. Mgv.:
puku,
a knot in the wood;
pukupuku,
knotted, rough,
uneven, lumpy. Mq.:
puku,
knot in wood, boss,
protuberance, tumor,
boil;
toopuku,
toopuu, boil,
wart, tumor;
pukupuku,
wrinkled, knotty.
Ta.: puú,
boss, protuberance,
swelling;
puúnono,
tumour;
puúpuú,
wrinkled, knotty.
Pukuraga,
servant T.
Churchill.
Rei matapuku,
necklace made of
coral or of
mother-of-pearl.
Henry.
Ohua. Night
in the Moon
calendar:
|
|
|
Ohua |
Otua |
CLOSE TO
THE SUN: |
12h
(182.6) |
ALCHITA |
PÁLIDA |
DAY 182 |
183 |
184 |
CLOSE TO
THE FULL
MOON: |
March 20 |
SIRRAH |
ALGENIB
PEGASI |
DAY 364 |
0h
(365.25) |
1 |
This
'bird beating the
rhythm' was
mentioned also at
the item for
Hanga Piko, in
the house (hare)
of the cave (ana)
'SixSix' (onoono).
"Ana Onoono is a
cave well-suited as
an overnight
shelter; Pu
Ngotangota is a
coastal formation
where the seawater
is allowed to flow
in and out. The
three additions,
'house', 'cave', and
'hole', always
describe an enclosed
area." (Barthel,
a.a., p 90)
Clearly Ana
Onoono may have
been referred to
earlier in
Manuscript E, when
they carried the
severely injured
Kuukuu down into
a cave and piled up
6 stone heaps
outside who would
answer when he
called out → 6 heaps
for 6 men → 36(0).
Likewise can we
perceive a
correspondence
between the coastal
formation Pu
Ngotango, where
water freely flowed
in and out, and the
movements of the
explorers when they
'behaved like
turtles', when they
rode the waves
repeatedly towards
the beach. 'Turtle'
→ boat (cfr
Zaurak).
... po-tagotago,
darkness. po o te
tagata, life ... |
... we read of a
fisherman later
revered as a deity
named Urashima:
He was hadsome of
feature ... He went
out alone in a boat
to fish with hook
and line. During
three days and
nights he caught
nothing, but at
length he caught a
turtle of five
colours. Wondering,
he put it in the
boat ... While he
slept the turtle
suddenly became
transformed into a
woman, in form
beautiful beyond
description ... He
said to her, 'This
place is far from
the homes of people,
of whom there are
few on the sea. How
did you so suddenly
come here?' Smiling
she replied, 'I
deemed you a man of
parts alone on the
sea, lacking anyone
with whom to
converse, so I came
here by wind and
cloud.'
She
is, of course, a
Kami [a spirit],
as he quickly
understands, from a
magical land that
'lasts as long as
sky and earth and
ends with sun and
moon'. And she
tempts him: 'You can
come to that region
by a turn of your
oar. Obey me and
shut your eyes.' So
presently they came
to a broad island in
the wide sea, which
was covered with
jewels. (On it was a
great mansion.) Its
high gate and towers
shone with a
brilliance which his
eyes had never
beheld and his ears
had never heard
tell. They enter the
mansion and are
received and greeted
in a loving fashion
by her parents:
'Seated they
conversed of the
difference between
mankind and the
Land-of-Spirits, and
the joy of man and
Kami meeting.
Eventually the
fisherman
Urashima and the
beautiful sea
Kami are
married. Thereafter:
'For three years,
far from his aged
parents, he lived
his life in the
Spirit capital, when
he began to yearn
for his home and for
them.' Observing the
change in him, his
wife asks: 'Do you
desire to return
home?' He replies:
'To come to this far
Spirit Land, I
parted from my near
and kin. My yearning
I cannot help ... I
wish to return to my
native place to see
my parents for a
while'. Then we
read: Hand in hand
they walked
conversing ... till
they came to where
their ways diverged
and where her
parents and
relatives, sorrowing
to part with him,
made their
farewells.
The princess
informed him that
she was indeed the
turtle which he had
taken in his boat,
and she took a
jewel-casket and
gave it to him
saying: 'If you do
not forget me and
desire to seek me,
keep this casket
carefully, but do
not open it.' Thus
he parted from her
and entered his
boat, shutting his
eyes as she bade
him. In a trice
Urashima finds
himself back in his
home village again
but a terrible
surprise awaits him.
During the three
years that he has
spent enchanted on
the Spirit island
300 mortal years
have passed and
everything has
changed beyond
recognition.
Stumbling around
dazed and
disconsolate,
discovering from a
passer-by that his
own disappearance
three centuries
previously is itself
now the subject of a
village legend, he
forgets the warning
about the jewel box
and opens it to
remind himself of
his Kami
wife: 'But before he
could look into it,
something in the
form of a
blue-orchid soared
up to the blue sky
with the wind and
clouds. Then he knew
that, having broken
his oath, he could
not go back and see
her again ... |
... Several Asian
cultures, including
that of the Andaman
Islands, believe
that humanity
emerged from a
bamboo stem. In the
Philippine creation
myth, legend tells
that the first man
and the first woman
were split open from
a bamboo stem that
emerged on an island
created after the
battle of the
elemental forces
(Sky and Ocean).
In Malaysian legends
a similar story
includes a man who
dreams of a
beautiful woman
while sleeping under
a bamboo plant; he
wakes up and breaks
the bamboo stem,
discovering the
woman inside. The
Japanese folktale
'Tale of the Bamboo
Cutter' (Taketori
Monogatari)
tells of a princess
from the Moon
emerging from a
shining bamboo
section. Hawaiian
bamboo ('ohe)
is a kinolau
or body form of the
Polynesian creator
god Kane.
An ancient
Vietnamese legend
tells of a poor,
young farmer who
fell in love with
his landlord's
beautiful daughter.
The farmer asked the
landlord for his
daughter's hand in
marriage, but the
proud landlord would
not allow her to be
bound in marriage to
a poor farmer. The
landlord decided to
foil the marriage
with an impossible
deal; the farmer
must bring him a
'bamboo tree of
one-hundred
sections'. The
benevolent god
Bụt appeared to
the farmer and told
him that such a tree
could be made from
one-hundred sections
from several
different trees.
Bụt gave the him
four magic words to
attach the many
sections of bamboo:
'Khắc nhập, khắc
xuất', which
means 'put in
immediately, take
out immediately'.
The triumphant
farmer returned to
the landlord and
demanded his
daughter. The story
ends with the happy
marriage of the
farmer and the
landlord's daughter
... |
|